Port Adelaide welcomes today’s AFL fixture announcement confirming the club will play a third consecutive premiership season game in Shanghai in 2019.

At a media conference in Melbourne’s Chinatown precinct, AFL General Manager Clubs and Broadcasting Travis Auld confirmed Port Adelaide will play St Kilda at Jiangwan Stadium in Shanghai next year on Sunday 2 June at a time to be confirmed.

The game will be broadcast nationally on Fox Footy and free-to-air into Adelaide on Ch 7.

In a further boost to the game, the Victorian State Government today announced a partnership with the AFL that will ensure St Kilda are Port Adelaide’s opponents in China for at least the next three years.

Port Adelaide chief executive Keith Thomas, who was joined at today’s announcement by Mr Auld, Victorian Minister for Trade and Investment Phil Dalidakis and St Kilda chief executive Matt Finnis, said he was delighted with today’s fixture announcement.

“Today’s announcement confirming that we will again be playing a game for premiership points in Shanghai next year is another significant result for Port Adelaide, the AFL and our joint China strategy,” said Mr Thomas.

“We have always said that we need to maintain a consistent presence in China for AFL to succeed and playing an annual premiership season game in Shanghai is obviously a key to that outcome.”

Mr Thomas also welcomed the ongoing support from the AFL and Shanghai Cred founder Mr Gui Guojie, along with the backing of the Victorian State Government.

“Mr Gui has shared our vision for China since day one and on the eve of this year’s game in May announced a five-year extension to our partnership, reinforcing his commitment to our strategy,” he said.

“Mr Gui sees no boundaries in what the AFL can achieve in his home country and most significantly he actively promotes and supports opportunities that exist for sports diplomacy and cultural exchange between Australia and China. We thank him for his generous support to ensure we can take our game to Shanghai again.

“Similarly, we thank the AFL for continuing to support our vision and welcome the support from the Victorian State Government, who too recognise the unlimited potential in our venture.”

Mr Thomas also thanked the Gold Coast Suns for their participation in the first two Shanghai matches while looking forward to the new opportunities presented by partnering with a traditional football club in Victoria.

“We are very excited to welcome St Kilda as our opponents in China for at least the next three years,” he said.

“We are confident that their loyal supporters will travel to Shanghai to enjoy the game and we are looking forward to promoting the game together with St Kilda both back here in Australia and in mainland China.

“There is no doubt that the 2019 Shanghai game will have a real point of difference this time with a new opponent.

“This year’s game was one of the most watched games in AFL history and we are looking forward to building on that audience again in 2019.”